


Cranes In The Sky

by crystalblinks (orphan_account)



Category: Captain America (Movies), Luke Cage (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Asexual Bucky Barnes, Gay Steve Rogers, M/M, POV Steve Rogers, Pansexual Sam Wilson, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson in Crop Tops, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-01
Updated: 2017-01-01
Packaged: 2018-09-13 21:12:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9142366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/crystalblinks
Summary: Sam was straddling Brock, punching him hard. Half listening to Bucky and Clint I wondered what it would be like if Sam was straddling me, with less punching and more kissing.A High School Story ft. Football, Art, Gambling and Crop Tops





	

Shield Academy was known for a lot. It had the best football team in the state, the best academics in the country and it housed some of the brightest minds of the generation. It was also known for it’s fights. At least one fight breaks out every week, whether it be from stress or just plain old teenage aggression, there was always someone getting beat down in the hallways. Last week it was Thor and Bruce. Bruce had gotten angry after Thor insulted his project for the science fair and decided to take it out on his face. The week before it was Luke and Shades who decided to take out their anger against each other right in front of my dorm room. This week, much to my surprise it was Sam Wilson and Brock Rumlow, the asshole from my APUSH class who spends most of his time slacking off on his notes and justifying slavery.  

I was walking down the hallway with Bucky, on the way to our classes when I heard someone get slammed against a locker. Sam was pressed against the wall of black lockers, anger evident on his face. He moved forward and punched Brock, hitting him a few times until the other boy was on the ground. Tony, Rhodey and Misty cheered Sam on while Rumlow’s goons did the same thing in a more annoying fashion. 

“What happened?” Bucky asked Clint who had drifted his way over to them, licorice hanging from his lips. “Brock was talking shit about Rhodey and Tony, like calling them faries n’ shit. Sam overheard and fucking decked him. I got it on my phone, guy’s got great form.” Clint said motioning towards the fight. Sam was straddling Brock, punching him hard. Half listening to Bucky and Clint I wondered what it would be like if Sam was straddling me, with less punching and more kissing. His lips, were caught in between his teeth, and his eyes a bright brown like ancient cameo were focused and hungry. A Shield Academy t-shirt hung from his torso, cut in the middle, exposing his abs. I licked my lips subconsciously. 

“You’ve got it bad...” Bucky murmured as I watched, lips parted slightly. I quickly pressed them together and turned away from him. “Dude is straight as an arrow.” 

“He’s bisexual. Sam screams bi.” Clint said, causing Bucky to scoff at him. “You wanna make a bet?” 

Bucky nodded and pulled a notebook out of his bag, flipping to the page where he wrote down all of his and Clint’s bets. “Ten bucks that Sam’s straight.”

“He’s bi, there is no way he’s not.” Clint said cockily shaking Bucky’s hand despite the fact that he lost more bets than he won.   

“I hope your right, for Steve’s sake.” Bucky commented, bumping me with his shoulder. His prosthetic was back in our room resting against the bed frame. He always hated wearing it, said that it was too heavy and cumbersome to really be functional. 

“You want to say something else Rumlow?” Sam’s shout rang out loudly, pulling me from my thoughts. He climbed off Rumlow making his way towards his friends who quickly ushered him away from the fight. After that everyone went to their classes, stepping around Brock with hushed voices and unimpressed gazes. 

“Algebra?” Bucky asked after Clint had made off to his French class, licorice still hanging from his lips. He slung an arm around me. He was considerably larger than me, and always seemed to take up the mantle of protector even though I could take care of myself. 

“Yeah sure.”

***

First and second period passed quickly, between Bucky helping me with the math I couldn’t quite comprehend and me helping him stay awake in pottery class. I always wondered why he picked that for his elective, he always shrugged and told me it was better than debate. We separated after that, he went to English with Bruce and I met up with Natasha and Clint for Chemistry. Chem wasn’t my favorite class, it was an easy B, but it was the one class that I shared with Sam. He was sitting next to Misty laughing and talking. I noticed that his hands were wrapped and he winced every time he moved them.

“We’re going to be assigning new lab partners today!” Mr. Coulson announced. First semester we got to pick our lab partners, but after Loki and Thor had blown up one too many things, Mr. Coulson had decided to switch it up before we handled more serious materials. “Loki, Natasha!” He called out directing them to one of the many tables.

“Misty, Clint!” Clint nodded at us and took a bite of his licorice before moving towards the table. Misty was still half chatting with Sam as she moved to the table with Clint effectively ignoring him. 

“Steve, Sam!” Mr. Coulson rattled off. I looked up and made eye contact with Sam who just smiled at me and moved towards our table. It was in the back of the room, wedged in between the large painting of the periodic table and the rack of lab coats. 

When we settled into our seats I looked over at his hands. “Are your knuckes swollen?”

“Yeah a little, they hurt more than anything.” He flexed his hands, gritting his teeth.

“When you get back to your dorm try soaking your hands in ice water, it always works for me.” 

“You fight?” Sam asked a mischievous smile finding its way onto his lips. 

“Only when I need to.”

“Well you do seem pretty scrappy.” I blushed, and his eyes followed the growing redness to my collar. 

Mr. Coulson cleared his throat from the front of the room causing us to snap up. “If you two are done we’re going to start the lesson.” Sam nodded and ducked his head, giving me a small smile before tuning into Coulson’s words. 

***

After Chemistry I made my way to the lunch table, with Clint and Natasha at my tail chatting about Bucky and Clint’s bet. “Ten bucks over that? You could have just asked him and saved your money.” 

Bucky was already at the table, a hoard of food already piled high in the center. “Where’s the fun in that?” Clint asked sliding in across from Bucky. Nat sat next to Clint and I sat next to Bucky. 

“But why did you make this bet Clint? You’ve got a shit gaydar.” Natasha asked, plucking fries from the center. 

“I do not!”

“You thought Steve and Bruce were straight and thought Bucky was gay.” Natasha pointed out.

“To be fair to Clint, Buck is ace.” Nat rolled her eyes at me and Clint reached across the take to high five me. 

“Thank you Buddy!”

“Nah, Stevie just wants him to be bi, even if it means siding with you.” Bucky commented, taking a bite of one of the many burgers on the table. He shoved one towards me with a knowing look.

“Who are we talking about?” Bruce asked sliding in next to Natasha. He was always late for lunch, even though we all get out of our classes at the same time. 

“Sam Wilson.” Clint said offhandedly, his words muffled around the four fries hanging from his lips. 

“The kid who wears all the crop tops?” Bruce asked, pushing his glasses back onto his face. 

“It’s like you haven’t listened to anything we’ve said over the past four months.”  Bucky muttered into his food. Bruce shrugged and glanced over to the table where Sam always sat. Rhodey and Tony were cuddled together, engaging in conversation with Sam while Luke and Misty seemed to be bantering. That was always how they were more or less, laughing and cuddling and ribbing. Sam started laughing at something Misty had said, his head thrown back, his laugh endearing and melodic, like the ringing of summer bells.

“Steve?” Natasha asked, tossing a fry at me. Everyone looked at me with varying degrees of amusement.

“Yeah?” 

“You’re drooling.”

***

“Those are cool.” Sam said, pulling me from the haze of my daydream. It was so easy to fall asleep in this class, even with Sam sitting a few inches away. He pointed to the little sketches I had in the margins of my notebook, the ones that I drew to stave off the boredom.

“Thank you, they’re just crappy doodles though, nothing special.”

“If you think that's crappy then I’d love to see what you think is good.” I could feel myself growing redder, but Sam’s smile just broadened. 

I moved to my bag and pulled out my sketch pad, the one Bruce bought me for Christmas last year. I pushed it towards Sam and he brightened, opening the book with reverence. Long fingers traced the outlines of my art, he bit his lip before speaking. “These are incredible. You’re really fucking talented.” 

“That- thank you.”

“Yeah man, these are art museum level, you could be a full on artist like gallery shows and everything.”

The bell rang, pulling Sam from my sketch book. “Hey, I’d love to see more of these.” Sam said slinging his backpack over his shoulder.

“I’ll uh bring my other book next class.” Sam’s smile brightened as he left.

***

I usually spend my free periods with Natasha. We study together and talk about everything from classes to our futures, although we usually do it in one of our dorm rooms she dragged me out to the football field. She said it was because I needed some air, but we both knew that it was because our free periods coincided with football practice.

We munched on the pears Nat brought with her and watched the guys do drills. “I’m not sure if Coulson knows his class is boring. Like part of me thinks he's just fucking with us but he can't be right? Right Steve?”

I tore my eyes from the field looking back at her. “Yeah, he's totally messing with us.”

“If you can finish one conversation without looking at that field then I promise you can stare for the rest of the period.”

“Hey I don’t stare, I glance longingly.”

“That’s so much worse.”

“Well did you just bring me out here to tease me?”

“I brought you out here because I'm a good friend and good friends ogle football players together.”

Natasha let me off the hook after that, and we watched together, sometimes commenting on their form or physique. As the end of practice neared Sam looked over at me and waved before being ushered off the field by Rhodey and Luke.

“Looks like you caught someone's attention.” Natasha said, a devious look on her face. 

“We’re lab partners, he likes my art, that's it.”

Natasha’s eyebrows rose in suspicion. “You showed him your art? You knew me for two years before you even let me glance at your sketch book.” 

I shrugged at her. “I don’t know it’s different...He’s different.”

“Alright, well I’ll try not to be jealous.” Natasha said, “But don't hold me to it.”

***

I never liked to leave Shield on the weekends. Most of the other kids have private jets and cars to take them back home, but it took hours for me and Bucky to make our way to and from Brooklyn, and it was always hard to get back into the headspace of the academy after going home. I was content to spend the weekend drawing and sleeping, enjoying the insanely soft mattress in my dorm room, but Bucky had other ideas. “Get up we’re going to Stark’s.” He tossed a pair of jeans at me. 

“Why?” 

“There’s a party and Stark parties are always fun.” Bucky started riffling through my drawers. He tossed a plain red button down at me. “Get dressed. Everyone else is already there.” Bucky impatiently watched me dress and hauled me across the hall, basically dragging me by my collar. When we arrived at the apartment, I stopped in my tracks. Tony Stark had one of the largest dorm rooms on campus, in all honesty it was more like an apartment than a room. I guess there are perks to money. 

“I’m gonna go grab drinks.” I murmured, looking around at the party. Bucky just nodded and made his way over to Nat, Bruce and Clint who were drinking and laughing, stumbling over each other. I made my way into the kitchen, pushing past the many, many drunk students. I finally found the fridge and grabbed a glass of water and a beer for Bucky, knowing that I’d have to be the sober friend tonight. Turning around I saw Sam in the corner kissing Thor, his hands threaded through his flowing blonde hair. 

My cup fell to the floor, splashing water onto my feet. “I-I’m so sorry, I’m gonna...go yeah I’ve got to go.” 

“Shit.” Sam muttered. 

I started to move away from the scene, but Sam launched forward and grabbed my wrist. “Hey.” He let go of my wrist and despite seeing what I just had, I didn’t want him to. “I didn’t mean for you to see that.” He whispered, eyes downcast.

“I’m not gonna out you.” He smiled, his eyes still glued to the floor.

“I’m out, it’s just that... I uh.”

“Hey, I’m not gonna hate on you because you’re gay or anything. That’d make me a hypocrite.”

“I’m pan actually, but that’s not why I.” Sam stopped and took a calming breath. 

He turned towards me finally meeting my eye. “Can we start tonight over, I’m kinda embarrassed.” 

I nodded carefully, eliciting a smile from Sam. “You look nice tonight.” 

“You do too.” I replied, trying not to let my eyes wander down from his face to his body. 

“So you and Thor?” Sam pulled at the hem of his crop top, the words ‘Black Lives Matter’ printed boldly on the front. 

“Nah, Thor and I... we get drunk and make out at parties and that's it, there’s nothing there.”

“Oh, that’s good. Not that you being lonely is good or anything.” Sam cut me off with one of his bright laughs.

“I get it. Also it would be weird to date one of my teammates, plus Thor’s-” 

“Wilson! Get in here! Rhodey and Tony are doing shots!” Luke called, excitement radiating from him. 

“Duty calls. I’ll talk to you later Steve?” Sam asked, lingering next to me.

“Yeah, talk to you later.” He offered me a quick smile before dashing back into the party. 

***

Bucky and Clint clamored over to our lunch table, pushing and shoving until they finally made it to the table, leaning towards me like hungry wolves. “You said you have information on the bet?”

“Yeah, Sam’s pan.”

“Pan?” Clint and Bucky asked at the same time. 

“That’s what he told me.” 

They kept muttering about the word pan until Natasha walked over with Bruce.  “Nat! What the hell is pan?” Clint shouted, waving his lollipop at her. 

“Like pansexuality or like a physical pan?” Bruce asked sliding in next to me. 

“Pansexuality probably, we need to know for the bet.” 

Natasha pulled out her phone, shaking her head. “Urban dictionary says it’s like bisexuality,, but even more fluid,” She sighed and looked over at the boys, “So I guess Clint wins.” 

“Yes!” Clint shouted, pumping his fist into the air. Everyone in the cafeteria turned around to look at him. He quickly sat back down in embarrassment, red coloring his cheeks. 

***

“You coming to the game tonight?” Sam asked, his voice a little nasally from the safety goggles. 

“Uh yeah, if Bucky goes I’ll probably tag along.”

Sam frowned slightly. “Bucky your boyfriend?” 

“God no, he’s like my brother. I’m a, I’m a single pringle.” Sam laughed, his head tipping back like it had in the lunchroom. 

“Good...because I’d like to take you out after the game.” 

“Like assassinate me?”

“Nah, like out for pizza? A date? Unless you have other plans or you don’t like-”

“I’d love to, I would absolutely love to go out with you.”

“Yeah?” Sam asked, his smile blinding. 

“Yeah, hell yeah.”

***

Between Nat, Clint and Bucky I’d been teased about Sam every second for the rest of the day. They even insisted on dressing me beforehand, citing that I couldn’t dress like somebody’s grandpa for a date. They continued their rampage all throughout the game, nudging me everytime Sam made a touchdown. I was finally free of them after the game, although they didn’t leave without a few nudges and jeers. 

After the game, Sam emerged from the locker room in light jeans and a faded lavender crop top, a denim jacket accentuating his broad shoulders. He smiled brightly when he saw me, moving a little bit faster as he approached. “Hey.” I said, hands stuffed into my jeans. 

“Hey.” We stood there for a little while looking at each other with smiles brighter than the sun. “So the place isn’t that far from here, we can walk or drive, whatever you want.”

“Walking...it’s kind of nice out.” Sam nodded and held out his hand, shifting a little bit. I laced my fingers with his, and his smile got even bigger than I thought possible. “You guys did good tonight.” 

“Thanks, I had a little extra motivation to do better tonight.” God, Sam would be the end of me.

“I’m a little surprised you don’t play in a crop top.” 

“Nah, Hill made a rule, I'm not allowed to cut or fold my jersey into a crop top.” Sam said imitating Coach Hill.

“Really?”

“Yeah it’s in the Shield rule book now, Hill even let me sign my name next to it.” We both laughed, until a bout of silence passed over us. “I’m really glad you agreed to go out with me.” Sam said, ducking his head slightly. 

“I’m honestly glad you asked me. I’ve had a crush on you since freshman year.”

“I could have had you on my arm back then?” Sam asked incredulously. “Damn, better late than never.”

***

There are plenty of scary things in this world, like giant spiders and the alt-right, but being cornered by Sam’s friends has to be one of the scariest. They hunted me down after lunch and moved me into one of the empty classrooms. 

“So you’re dating Sam now?” Misty asked nonchalantly.

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, I am.” 

“And you know not to hurt him right?” Luke asked cracking his knuckles and giving me a menacing glare.

“This is way too dramatic, even for me.” Tony muttered. Rhodey elbowed him, a small smile present on his lips. 

“I- I would never even think of hurting him.”

“Good, because Sam’s like a brother to all of us. And family protects family.” Rhodey stated, his eyes boring into my soul. 

I nodded, quickly and they all seemed satisfied with their efforts to protect Sam from me. After that they all left the classroom except for Tony who lingered at the doorway. “I heard that Sam’s good in the sack, not from personal experience. I already have a hot boyfriend to keep me happy.” He flashed me a quick smile and left the room, in true Tony Stark fashion. 

***

It’s rare when I stay up all night drawing, but there are always days when the idea can’t wait until the next day. It was like that after one of my dates with Sam. I became restless after drawing it turning over and over, trying to stave off the night so I could show it to him. After about an hour of that I climbed out of bed and made my way to Sam’s dorm. I knocked on Sam’s door a few times trying not to disturb everyone else who wasn’t awake at two am. 

Sam opened the door, his face filled with exhaustion and worry. “Steve? Is everything okay babe?”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ve just got something to show you.” Sam calmed considerably and lead me into his dorm. We sat down on the edge of the bed and he looked at me expectantly. I pulled my sketch book out of my bag and flipped to the last page. “I uh, I drew it a few hours ago and I uh I didn’t want to wait until the morning to show you so...”  

Sam looked at the image. It was a rough sketch of him with wings, surrounded by little birds. He traced his fingers over the page, his eyes wide. “This is how you see me? Like some sort of angel?” Sam turned towards me, and cupped my jaw, pulling me into a kiss, one that ignited fireworks in me. He wrapped his free arm around my waist, moving me closer so we were pressed against each other. “How did I get so lucky?” Sam murmured. 

“I think I’m the lucky one.”

“Let’s say we’re both the luckiest bastards on earth huh?” Sam asked before kissing me again, softer than the first one. We kissed like that until our lips were red and kiss swollen, tangled in each other like we’d found our lifelines. A quick yawn broke us apart, which had Sam chuckling quietly into the dark.

“Tired?”

“Exhausted.”

“You going back tonight? ‘Cause I’ve got lots of room.” Sam said motioning to the bed. 

“Sam...”

“Stay. Just until the morning.” He looked so raw then, as if I’d peeled back all the layers and made it to the core. 

I nodded and he pulled me under the covers, wrapping strong arms around my waist. “Night babe.” He whispered, his breath drawing lazy patterns on my neck.

“Goodnight.”   
  



End file.
